The present disclosure relates generally to an adjustable pipe that provides at least a portion of fluid connection between a first object (e.g., sink, basin, tub, toilet, drain, etc.) and a second object (e.g., additional pipe, trap pipe, P-trap, building plumbing, etc.). Thereby, the first object (e.g., a sink) may be moved relative to the second object (e.g., a waste pipe fixed to the floor/wall) to adjust the height of the first object relative to the second object while still maintaining a fluid connection between each.
The ability to adjust the height of a sink, or any other receptacle, may be useful by people of varying heights or those limited by physical disabilities. For example, a child may need to use the same sink as an adult. Also, for example, people restricted to a wheelchair may need to use the same sink as people not restricted to a wheelchair and the ability to adjust the sink to an appropriate height for the wheelchair may be desirable.
Further, it may be desirable to adjust the height of a sink in order to shampoo the hair of a person restricted to a wheelchair. Usually, shampoo sink bowls are designed with a large opening in the front to accommodate the head and neck of a person leaning backwards and are positioned at a fixed height. Because the sink bowl is typically at a fixed height, it is often the chair that moves up and down to accommodate the sink bowl height. Someone restricted to a wheelchair may not be easily moved to a chair that moves up and down relative to a sink bowl, and therefore it may be desirable for the sink bowl to instead move relative to the wheelchair to accommodate a variety of different individuals in a variety of different wheelchairs.
The current variations of adjustable pipes include flexible tubing or “accordion style” plumbing adaptors that have flexible sidewalls such that the flexible portion may be expanded and contracted to adjust the height. However, the flexible tubing or “accordion style” plumbing adaptors may retain solids in the non-smooth walls and may not be up to certain building codes. Additionally, a “Height Adjustable Standpipe” is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,396, which includes multiple sections that fluidly cooperate with drain assemblies or fixtures. The multiple sections may be held in position relative to one another using cables such that the multiple sections are prevented from coming apart. Further, the multiple sections may alternate between brass and PVC pipe to allow for grooves to be formed in the PVC pipes such that the grooves may include O-rings that provide a seal between sections.